Home Australia Terrified residents ordered to stay inside their homes after armed man triggered an hours-long standoff with police in Birkdale, Brisbane

Terrified residents ordered to stay inside their homes after armed man triggered an hours-long standoff with police in Birkdale, Brisbane

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Police chased two men inside a blue Volkswagen Amarok (pictured) in Birkdale, near Brisbane, before road spikes stopped the vehicle on Old Cleveland Road early on Saturday.

A man has been arrested after an hours-long standoff in which hundreds of terrified residents were ordered to stay inside their homes on a Queensland street.

Police chased two men inside a blue Volkswagen Amarok in Birkdale, near Brisbane, before road spikes stopped the vehicle on Old Cleveland Road early on Saturday.

Two men fled the car, one was quickly arrested and the other evaded police for several hours and activated an exclusion zone in the seaside suburb.

Special Emergency Response Team (SERT) tactical group officers told residents to stay inside their homes for their own safety with an emergency declaration made under the Public Safety Preservation Law.

Resident Kulwinder Singh said he was quickly ushered in by police when he tried to check on his neighbors during the lockdown.

“One of my neighbors called in a panic because he thought something was wrong,” Mrs. Singh told the courier mail.

‘So we went to see them, but the police immediately told us to go back in. I opened the door and there were police cars everywhere. I couldn’t believe it.’

Louise Pack said it was an unusual scene to wake up to.

Police chased two men inside a blue Volkswagen Amarok (pictured) in Birkdale, near Brisbane, before road spikes stopped the vehicle on Old Cleveland Road early on Saturday.

Police established an exclusion zone in the area and deployed officers from the Special Emergency Response Team (SERT) tactical group (pictured)

Police established an exclusion zone in the area and deployed officers from the Special Emergency Response Team (SERT) tactical group (pictured)

Photos from the scene showed a large police presence gathered at the abandoned Volkswagen.

Photos from the scene showed a large police presence gathered at the abandoned Volkswagen.

“It’s quite shocking to find out that’s what happened overnight – Birkdale is such a lovely neighborhood so it’s a shame to hear these things are happening,” he said.

“But you know this seems to be happening a lot now.”

A 40-year-old man from Roseneath was finally arrested at 5am local time.

Photos from the scene showed a large police presence gathered at the abandoned Volkswagen, its tires visibly damaged by road spikes.

The car had been reported stolen from an address in Northgate on December 30.

Old Cleveland Road has since reopened and the exclusion zone has been lifted.

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